A videotape addressed to the American people apparently recorded in recent months by Osama bin Laden on Friday appeared on the internet, criticising Democrats for not stopping the war in Iraq, attacking the White House for not observing the Kyoto accord and suggesting the US could soon suffer the fate of the Soviet Union.

The tape, evidently issued to coincide with the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, refers to the observation “a few days ago” of the 62nd anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – in August.